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S. VpAPPLEBY.

Apparatus for Grinding Tobacco. No. 226,953. Patented April 27,1880.

FIG. 1..

INVEN'FEFR J? 271 N-PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D, C,

WITNESSES:

3 Sheets-Sheet Z.

.S. V. APPLEBY.

. w Apparatus for Grinding Tobacco. No..226,953. Patented April 27,1880.

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zzp y INVENTEIR MPEI'ERS. PHOTD-UTHOGRAPHER. WASVHINGTON. D

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

S. V. APPLE'BY. Apparatusfor Grinding Tobacco.

Patented April 27,1836:

INVENTDR N. Perms, PHOTO-UTHQGFAPMER, WLSHXNGYON D C NITED STATES PATENTOFFICE,

STEPHEN V. APPLEBY, OF SPOTSWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR GRINDING TOBACCO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 226,953, dated April27, 1880.

I Application filed December 31, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, STEPHEN V. APPLEBY, ofSpotswood, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain.

new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Grinding Tobacco and otherMaterials, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for grinding tobacco forthe manufacture of snuff and for reducing various other articles, suchas grain and spices, its object I being the production of a singlemachine which will simultaneously grind and sift either wet ordrytobacco, or the other materials referred to, and thereby obviate thenecessity of separate machines for the respective operations of grindingand sifting, and which shall be selffeeding, thereby dispensing with theattentionclosing-casing, of one or more rotating cylin-.

ders traveling upon said bed-stone in a path around the center thereof,and one or more reciprocating sieves or sifters arranged about andadjacent to the periphery of said stone and on a level therewith, Thetobacco to be ground being fed upon the bed-stone, the travclingcylinder or cylinders comminute the same, and generally force it outwardupon the sieves or sifters, through which that portion which is properlyreduced falls into a proper receptacle, from which it may be removed asrequired. The portion of the tobacco which is not sufficiently reducedto pass through the sifters is, by devices hereinafter referred to,brushed back in the path of the grinding cylinder or cylinders forfurther reduction.

The invention consists, secondly, in the combination, with the grindingand sifting devices above referred to, of an automatic feeding device,operating, in combination with said grinding and sifting devices, todeliver tobacco to be ground upon the bed-stone in regulated quantity,corresponding to the discharge of the sifters.

It consists, thirdly, in the combination,with the bed-stone, travelingcylinder or cylinders, sifters, and automatic feeding device, of aninclosing case surrounding and covering the said bed-stone, travelingcylinder or cylinders, and Sifters, and connected by a suitablepassage-way with the feeding device, all as hereinafter moreparticularly described.

It consists, fourthly, in the combination,

'with the bed-stone, traveling cylinders, and

sifters, of one or more scrapers traveling over and upon the sifters ina direction to remove the coarse tobacco therefrom to the bed-stone andin the path of the traveling grinding-cylinder, whereby the apparatus isrendered able,

to reduce to proper condition the entire quantity of tobacco fedthereto.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure I, Sheet 1, is a vertical centralsection of the inclosing-case, bed-stone, and other essential stationaryparts of the apparatus, with the.

movable parts arranged in proper relation thereto. Fig. II is ahorizontal section on line 00 w of Fig. I. .Fig. III is a detached planview of the sifters and their operating devices. Fig. IV is a detailelevation of the sitter-moving devices, the sifter-supports being shownin vertical section. Fig. V is a detail longitudinal section, showingthe arrangement ofthe sifters and their supports. Fig. VI is a plan viewof the arm projecting from the sieve-guide.

Fig. VII shows a plan and longitudinal section of one of the sieves.

, The letter A indicates the stationary bed-j stone, which may bearranged upon anysuitable foundation, as a. This stone, at its center,is provided with a step, B, in which is stepped the foot of a verticalshaft, 0. Said shaft carries a loosely-secured vertically-movablecross-shaft, D, upon the opposite ends of which are journaled thegrinding-cylinders E, which travel in a circle upon the horizontal faceand around the center of the bed-stone A. The upper end of the verticalshaft 0 is journaled in the top of a frame-work,F, surrounding, orpartially surrounding, the entire apparatus, and the vertical movementof the crossshaft -D with respect to said vertical shaft is obtained byhaving a flattened middle portion,

d, of said cross-shaft to pass through a vertical slot through saidvertical shaft, while pins 61 project from said flattened middleportions through vertical slot-s cut through the shaft 0 at right anglesto that through which passes the flattened portion of shaft D.

Upon a level with the horizontal face of the bed-stone A, and adjacentto and in coincidence with the periphery thereof, are arrangedarc-shaped sieves or sifters G. These sieves or sifters are eachcomposed of an arc-shaped open frame, g, as shown in Fig. VII, coveredwith wire-gauze, and said sieves or sifters rest upon and are carried byan arc-shaped recip rocating carrier, H, which may be formed of brass orother suitable metal, and is supported by and reciprocateslongitudinally upon a guideway, I, preferably cast of Babbitt metal or asimilar composition, and embracing snugly the periphery of thebed-stone, the top surfaces of the guideway, the sieve-carriers, and thesieves being flush with each other and with the horizontal face of thebed-stone A.

The inner edge of the guideway I is supported by a shoulder, i, formedaround the periphery of the bed-stone A, and the outer edge of saidguide may rest upon suitable standards. From a middle cross-bar of thesieve-carrier a stud, j, projects downward, and has formed upon its enda journal, embraced by a collar, 7c, from which radially with respect tothe bedstone extends an arm, Z, terminating in an open frame, m. Throughthis open frame passes a vertical shaft, N, the lower end of which isstepped in a suitable bearing, a, and

"the upper end projects beyond and has a bearing in the frame F, theprojecting portion of said shaft carrying a belt-pulley, 0. Immediatelyabove the open frame m an arm, 19, pro- '40 jects from the shaft N, andhas a downwardprojecting stud, upon which is journaled a roller, q,hanging within said open frame m, for a purpose which will presentlyappear.

From the center of the outer edge of the guideway I a rigid arm, 1,projects outward above the arm I, and terminates in a sleevebearing, 1,which embraces the shaft N. From this arm I a pin, 8, projects downward,passing through a longitudinal slot in the arm 1, and a head, 8, on thelower head of said pin supports said arm. If, now, the shaft N should berotated, the roller q will strike the side bars, m, of the open frame malternately, forcing said frame alternately in opposite directions, andgiving the arm l an oscillating movement upon the pin 8 as a fulcrum,thus causing the sieve-carrier I to reciprocate upon its arcshapedguideway and receive the shaking movement necessary to the efficientaction of the sieves. In the present instance I have shown the guidewayand sieve-carrier as let into an arc-shaped recess in the periphery ofthe bed-stone, the guideway, of course, being a little longer than thecarrier to permit reciprocation of the latter; but the guideway mayentirely encircle the stone and support an annular sieve-carrier. As nowshown, the end walls, 11, of the guideway are beveled or incli nedoutward from bottom plates, '5, (see Fig. V,) upon which the ends of thesieve-carrier play, and this sieve-carrier has its end bars beveled toform chisel-shaped lower edges, this form of the said wall and end barcausing any tobacco which may fall into the recesses of the guideway atthe ends ofthe sieve-carrier to be removed at each reciprocation of thelatter.

In. order to reduce the friction between the sieve carrier and itsguideway, I form inwardly-projecting bearings 15 for the carrier on thewalls of said guideway.

From the vertical shaft 0 arms 0 project in opposite directions at rightangles to the shaft D, beyond the peripheries of the cylinders E, andfrom the ends of these arms 0 extend scrapers 0, the edges of which restagainst the peripheries of the cylinders and prevent the adherence oftobacco thereto. Obliquely from the shaft 0 also project scrapers f, theedges of which play over the sieves or sifters G, and sweep coarsetobacco therefrom back into the path of the grindiing-cylinders, thetendency of these cylinders being to work the tobacco outward, the finerand properly-reduced portions passing through the sieves, while thecoarser portions are swept back for further reduction, as stated. Thearms 0 also carry scrapers g, which sweep the central portion of thebedstone and are set obliquely to force the tobacco outward toward thecylinders.

Closely surrounding the bed-stone A and the guideway is a cylindricalcasin g, T, ex-

tending above the grinding-cylinders and provided with a cover toprevent the escape of light finely-ground tobacco when the same isground dry. The vertical wall of the casing is provided with an openingfor the arms I and l to work through. Upon the top of this cylindricalcasing is arranged a horizontal box or housing, U, connected with thecasing by a spout, u. Longitudinally within this box or housing ismounted a feeding or conveying screw, V, the shaft of which passesthrough the end walls of said box and is journaled in suitable bearings.Upon a portion of said shaft, outside of the housing U, is mounted acone-pulley, W, abovewhich, upon the frame F, is suitably mounted acorresponding conepulley, W, these pulleys being connected by a belt, w,and their function being to regulate the speed of the screw V, andconsequently to control the quantity of tobacco fed by said screw intothe casing. A chute, v, connects the housing or box U with an elevatedhopper or bin. (Not shown in the drawings.)

The tendency of the cylinders while rotating and grinding the tobaccoupon the bed-stone being to constantly crowd the tobacco outward andupon the sieves, a constant discharge of properly-ground product takesplace through these sieves, and it is obvious that the speed of thefeed-screw may be so regulated as to feed to the bed-stone a quantity oftobacco sufficient IIO to balance this discharge and keep the grindingdevices constantly fed in a manner most conducive to their efficientoperationthat is, so that there may be neither too little nor too muchstock upon the bed-stone.

In the drawings, Fig. I, I have shown the stone as beveled outward anddownward from the ledge upon which the guideway I rests, the beveledwall serving to shed off the snufl to a convenient position for beingcollected. This, however, is not essential, and the stone may have thesame diameter at the bottom as at the top.

The sieves are removable, so that any grade or fineness of mesh may beused, according to the grade of snuff desired to be produced.

In practice I arrange the positions of the shafts G and N in suchrelative position that the belt which connects the belt-wheel of a motorwith the belt-wheel at top of shaft 0 may have a bearing upon thebelt-pulley at top of shaft N, and thus serve to communicate motion tothe sieves or sifters.

I have not shown any particular means of connecting the cone-pulleyswhich drive the feed-screw with any other rotary shaft of the apparatus,as this is a matter within the skill of an ordinary mechanic withoutspecial instruction.

What I claim is-- l. The combination, in a grinding and sifting machine,with a bed-stone forming the bottom of an inclosing-casing, of one ormore rotating cylinders traveling upon said bedstone in a path aroundthe center thereof, and one or more reciprocating sieves or siftersarranged about and adjacent to the periphery of said bedstone and on alevel therewith, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with a bed'stone and one or more reciprocatingsieves or sifters arranged adjacent thereto and upon a level therewith,of one or more grinding-cylinders traveling upon said stone, and anautomatic feed ing device arranged to deliver material to be ground uponsaid bed-stone, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with the bed -stone, traveling cylinder orcylinders, sifting and automatic feeding devices, of an inclosing-casesurrounding and covering said bed-stone, cylinder or cylinders, andsifters, and connected by a suitable passage-way with said feedingdevice, substantially as described.

4. The combination, in a grinding and sifting machine, of a stationarybed-stone forming the bottom of an inclosing-casii'lg, one or morerotating cylinders traveling upon said bedstone, one or morereciprocating sieves or sifters arranged about and adjacent to theperiphcry of the bed-stone on a level with the surface of the same, andone or more scrapers extending obliquely across and traveling upon thesieve or sieves and acting to sweep the loose unsifted material from thesurface of the sieve or sieves onto the bed-stone, substantially asherein shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

STEPHEN V. APPLEBY.

Witnesses:

W. B. WELSH, GEO. W. HELME.

